XR is a powerful tool which can be used for social inclusion of people with mental disabilities. In this paper, some of results of the project BitTheSpectrum will be described. It promotes the social inclusion of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), in the labour world, by boosting their literary and social emotion skills using Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR).

Human-centered design (HCD) is a problem-solving approach that considers people's needs, perspectives, and behaviors in every step of the process. It is used in fields like engineering and management to develop effective and user-friendly solutions. HCD is based on participatory action research and originated from fields like ergonomics, computer science, and artificial intelligence. It involves 3-4 phases: Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation. The process begins with observing the problem and people affected, brainstorming and creating ideas, and then implementing the solutions. It emphasizes keeping humans at the center and creating an innovative, user-focused culture.

This paper will describe how the partners from the project have adapted HCD methodology for creating exercises using AR or VR by non computer-aided design (CAD) skilled teachers and taking into account the peculiarities of students of special education (ASD).

The paper will describe the proposed methodology (for both AR and VR) and will describe the cocreation and testing process of one specific example of VR. The VR experience that was virtualized (by using 360º cameras) was a T-shirts stamping’ workshop of an association of people with disabilities. The conclusions of both co-creation and testing process are described in this paper.

Keywords: ASD, XR, special education, AR, VR, HCD, Autism, Technology.